In perpetuum
by vkdemon
Summary: Smythofsky, AU, ghost!Dave. Set in 2039.
1. Chapter 1

Title: In perpetuum  
Authors: vkdemon and karomeled  
Rating: NC-17  
Warnings: supernatural, implications of suicide, mystery  
Ship: Sebastian/Dave  
Summary: AU, ghost!Dave. Set in 2039.  
AN: Inspired/accompanied by a photoset found on my tumblr at vkdemon.  
Our other OTPs have awesome ghost!fics so we thought, hey, Sebofsky needs one too!

~~~

The first time Sebastian sees him is exactly a week since his parents moved in the old, mundane house in at uptown of the Lima, Ohio dragging him into small town boredom from the glamor of Paris.

He freezes, half bent over his desk in search of a pen as the transparent silhouette flickers through his room in Letterman jacket and backpack, looking all the stereotypical jock and then disappears into the wall without even a glance in his direction.

Sebastian blinks rapidly and stares at the spot where the figure faded for a good minute before shaking his head and turning his lamp off. He flops on the bed not even bothering to change into pajamas and swears solemnly to never study past 2am again.

But the second time happens in the light of day and the shimmering form cannot be blamed on lack of sleep anymore.

"What the hell?!" Sebastian gasps, following the ghost with wide eyes as it once again makes its way through his room. A _ghost. _He has a freaking ghost in his bedroom. Expect that the figure already had the time to disappear again and Sebastian is left gaping numbly at wall, a part of him wondering if his going crazy.

***

It would be a swell explanation. He had a lot of stress recently, the moving, new school, football team and the position in the show choir leaving him barely enough time to breath. That must be it- his brain is overloaded with crap and rebels by sending him a creepy reminder about his responsibilities. Sebastian nods to himself pouring coffee into his mug. He puts the dish on the tray next to his dinner and shuts the microwave sighing over quality of food he's shoving in himself lately. His parents were never ones to cook at home -or even make sure the fridge was full for that matter- but at least in Paris he could go out to the first itsy bitsy restaurant he laid his eyes on and dine there. The one time he checks out Breadstix scared him away from ever trying to eat out again.

He stops before his room and takes a deep breath, chastising himself for the little hesitation.

_It's all in your head, for fuck's sake. _He grits his teeth and pushes the door open. They slide smoothly revealing dark inside. Sebastian balances the tray on his forearm and gropes over the wall in search for the light switch. The lamp flickers a little and Sebastian convinces himself that no, he absolutely does not feel uneasy.

The boy sets his food on his desk and drops on the chair, determined to flood any thoughts of ghost and such stupidity in the sounds of some show or movie. He turns on his laptop, fork stirring the meal with his other hand and waits for the matrix to light up. A millisecond before the logo pops out on the screen, he catches a glimpse of _him_, behind his back.

Sebastian sucks in a breath and swirls on his chair around to see the boy with a backpack passing by his bed, again without any sign that he acknowledges Sebastian's presence. The transparent silhouette is steps away from the wall in which he'll surely disappear as usual. Sebastian jolts from his seat without thinking.

"Wait!"

The boy stops and turns slowly until his eyes connect with Sebastian's. Sebastian swallows against the tightening feeling in his throat, shuddering a little when the piercing gaze doesn't leave him for even a blink.

"W-what are you doing here?" He manages finally.

The ghost cocks his head as if Sebastian asked the dumbest question possible and answers with a shrug of his transparent shoulders. "I'm going to school. Have a practice today," he says and fades in the air.

Sebastian's knees give up and he flops down on his chair. He wipes the sweat off his forehead with a shaking hand.

_So much for a small town boredom._

***

Sebastian would like to say he slept in his room that night, but, really, he can't. In fact, sneaking out to a guest room every evening became a sort of a habit. He isn't sure if he really conversed with supernatural being or if he's just going insane but he has no interest in getting an opportunity to find out.

Besides, ever since he lowered the time spent in his room to bare minimum, the boy didn't show up once. Sebastian grew relaxed and-

"Holy fuck!"

A glass falls to the ground, splattering his drink over the floor. The shimmering figure of a boy his age moves through corridor, past Sebastian, and there's not even a twitch to betray he noticed Sebastian's shivering form.

"Hey!" He yells after the ghost. "You're not supposed to go out of that room!"

"Geez. Don't sneak up on people." The ghost slaps a hand over his heart as he turns toward Sebastian. "Why is the world out to keep me from going to school?"

Sebastian licks his lips, fighting against his suddenly dry mouth. The thing talks. To him. He clears his throat. "Are you going to roam around the whole house now?" He asks wincing at how timid his voice sounds. "Why are you out of my room?" He repeats.

"Room? You alright man? This is my way to school. I have to go to school." The boy flickers into a bit more opacity.

"Are are nuts?" Sebastian snaps and part of him thinks that question is more meant for him. He straightens himself off the wall and points at the door of his room, voice fraught with anger. "This isn't school! You're... you're hunting my house, you prick." The words sound more ridiculous out loud than in his mind.

"H...haunting? Like a ghost?" The boy flickers as his face fall. "But I don't want to die."

Sebastian scoffs. "Good for you. I doubt you can die twice." He's aware that angering the paranormal creature is not the way to go, but the guy... the thing... was fucking with him for weeks. Sebastian smiles cruelly.

"No, that's not right. I don't want to die." The boy flickers and his clothing changes from the letter man to a suit, there are red marks around his throat. "But, I don't want to die."

Sebastian feels a cold gust of air lick past his neck. He shivers as the atmosphere in narrow hall seems to grew claustrophobically dense. "Y-you're dead. You're already dead," he forces the words out.

"NO!" The boy screams as tears fall from his eyes and then he's gone.

Sebastian breathes out heavily, leaning on the wall. It takes him a moment to convince his legs to move again. He inches away from the cursed part of the house and spends the whole night in the living room.


	2. Chapter 2

The boy with the Letterman flickered into being and was sitting on Sebastian's bed. He waited there, looking around at the room like he could see it.

Sebastian came out of his walk-in bathroom, naked bare for slippers, and hummed a song they were practising in his show choir that day. He turned to the wardrobe and... "Jesus!" He hobbled, one of his hands pressed over his heart. "Will you stop scaring me?!" He snapped in irritation. It has been three weeks since the incident in the hallway. He thought he finally had the room for himself.

"Only if you stop too." The ghost sulks from his hunched spot on the bed. "Why are you in my room?"

"Um, because it's _mine_?" Sebastian comes up slowly and finally puts on an underwear. "Why are you suddenly so talkative, huh? No school to get into?"

"I... You're naked." The boy blushes and looks away. "No I... I tried to go to school but I woke up here. Who are you?"

Sebastian rolls his eyes. Great, not only he has a chubby ghost haunting his bedroom, it has to be a prude too. Just his luck. "If you have a problem with that you can always leave," he says sitting on the edge of his bed. When the ghost doesn't make any sudden movement, he tentatively leans on the bed frame. "Sebastian Smythe. I'd like to say it's nice to meet you but I'm not one to lie for the sake of courtesy."

The Ghost didn't dare look back at the defined chest of the boy that is in his room. Was his room... "Dave... I'm Dave. This is my room. The bed was over on the other wall. And my skates hung on this wall. Where did you put those? They're important to me."

Sebastian groans. "Skates? What skates? Like, for hockey? Do people even play that around here nowadays?" He rubs a hand over his face. "I don't know, maybe the previous owner took them."

"Oh... previous owner." Dave licked at his lips and rings his hands. "So um... I don't know how I got here. I have school but I went through that wall. This is fucking scary."

Sebastian stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. "You're a ghost, man. That's what you do. Go through walls and scare the shit out of people," he explains slowly as if talking to a child.

"I'm not a ghost. This shit is just some weird dream. And you..." Dave looks over his shoulder at the naked chest. "You're just what I don't want to deal with. I just need to get through high school and out of Lima okay? I'll be fine if I can just get through high school."

"Wow. You're a king of denial, aren't you?" Sebastian scoffs, propping himself up. He doesn't miss the surreptitious glance thrown his way and the fact that even paranormal creatures find him attractive is a flattery he can't pass by.

"You could say that. I mean... I spent about 2 years thinking I liked Hummel's ass only because I saw it in a skirt... even though I don't think skirts look all that hot on girls."

"Uh..." Sebastian stares at him with a raised eyebrow. "No, I meant the ghost thing. Wait, is Hummel a guy?"

"Um... Yeah." Dave licks his lips again. "He's a guy at my school. I throw him into lockers. And... I... might... have... um... kissed... him."

Sebastian snorts loudly. "You might? What, you're not sure?" The boy looks upset and slouches visibly. Sebastian rolls his eyes. "So you like guys in skirts. Big deal."

"You don't get it. It is a big deal. A huge deal. And... My life would be over if he tells anyone." Dave growls, but the anger sounds more like a whimper. "It's his fault anyway."

"Geez. It's not 2010 anymore, Casper." Sebastian sits up straighter. "Who gives a shit."

"It's... not..." Dave bit his lip. "Oh... so you're okay with... gays. Really?"

Sebastian laughs out loud. "Yeah, you could say so. Gays, bisexuals and straight boys as well. I like to keep my pallette wide," he winked.

"Oh shit. You're... a queer. I... your parents know that?"

"They're aware... I've been bringing guys home for a while now and even though they're too busy to remember what year of High School I am in, I'm pretty sure that much could not go unnoticed," Sebastian says looking the boy over. The ghost's creepy fixation on homosexuality is starting to bother him. It was like he was from some some other epoch. "How old are you, actually?"

"Um. I thought I was 17. But I'm not so sure now. I'm supposed to graduate at the end of the year. Class of 2012. I guess that's not a good thing. I missed college."

Sebastian gapes at him. "Erm... I think you missed more than just a college, tiger. It's 2039." He says sitting cross legged on the bed.

"No way. You're from the future? Is... did they pass that gay marriage law in California? Is the ozone going to collapse? Did the icebergs melt? Is One Direction still together? Please tell me Harry Styles is gay."

"Whoa, wait!" Sebastian holds his hands in the air. "What do you mean, _gay _marriage? And who the fuck are One Direction and Styles?" He frowns in pure confusion.

"Duh, man. Only the coolest hottest British band. Harry Styles... like, I swear he's gay." Dave made a little sigh. "You know marriage between two guys or two girls. Gay marriage. California was trying to make it legal again."

"Why won't you just say marriage then?" Sebastian raises an eyebrow. He drums his fingers on his knee in thoughts. "I think I read something about new law to legally recognize polygamous relationships though. That was in California."

"Poly what? Like having a bunch of wives? I thought that was only a cult thing."

Sebastian snorts. "You need to educate yourself, Spooks. No, it's like having more than one boyfriend or girlfriend." He explains. The conversation's in equal parts amusing and perplexing.

"That's not possible..? Monogamy is pretty important. I mean it's everything. How is someone supposed to know you love them?"

"But you are still being faithful to those people, idiot." Wow, his eyeballs are going to hurt after all this eye-rolling. "My aunt has two partners and she's happy." He shrugs as if it was a conversation-ender.

"Wait... Are they guys or girls? Because if they are girls isn't that the same as having roommates? How do they not break up every month?" Dave looks honestly confused. "And how do they know who the kids belong to if one gets pregnant?"

"No, they're guys..." Sebastian says and it's very thankful for that fact because answering Dave's questions would take eternity. And only one of them has it. "Look... Things are different from what you remember. Like, your Hummel guy is all wrinkled and old, if still alive." He muses.

"Oh... Yeah. He probably got gay married and everything. He was never afraid of being gay." The thought makes him look down at his luminous hands. "I hope he's doing okay."

"Huh. You really had it for him, didn't you?" In the sudden spurt of amiability he reaches to pat the boy's shoulder but his fingers slide through cold air and he takes his hand away with a wince. "Sorry..."

"Ghost... Yeah I guess that's going to be a normal thing now." Dave picks at the skin around his thumb, but nothing changes in his image even as he digs. "Yeah. I hated him. I think I loved him too. Do you... do you think you could find out if he's okay? I mean I know my parents are probably gone but..."

"Okay..." Sebastian shudders a little and gets under a cover. Dave's presence doesn't _lower the temperature of the whole room _like in some horror novel, but being so close he can feel it like a light breeze. "What was his name again? I'm not promising anything, but I'll try." And he realizes that he really means to go to the trouble for some dead guy he didn't even know till last month.

"Kurt Hummel. He was born here in Lima. He's pretty, thin, pale, pretty much the stereotype of a fab gay. His dad was Burt hummel... Um he's probably an actor or a singer or something." Dave looks down at the boy pulling the covers. "Thank you. I um. I'll go."

"Can you appear whenever you want? I'm not going to search for your plasmic ass just to tell you what I found out," Sebastian says drowsily. He's sleepy and tired but Dave's presence is too unnerving to let him fall asleep. "You... won't try anything when I'm asleep, right?"

"NO! I wouldn't! No." Dave stood and jolted away from the bed like he'd been burned. "I'm not like that! I'm not some queer rapist. I'm not! You say my name and I'll come but... Yeah no. I'm leaving."

"Jesus..." Sebastian groans in exaggeration."I meant some supernatural stunts, you know, liek last time." He props himself on his elbows. "Funny that's where your mind went. The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth, huh?"

"What the hell does that mean?" Dave was flitting in and out of solidity.

Sebastian turns on his side to pat his butt. "It means you'd like a piece of that." He says with a smirk. "It's only natural, babe, no need to be ashamed."

In a blink Dave disappears. An amused chuckle fills the abandoned room. Seems like Sebastian found a way to get rid of the spooky roommate after all.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hummel Designs, where fabulous meets practical; how can I help you?"

"Um. Hi. Sebastian Smythe," the boy introduced himself, awkwardly stepping around the room in search for a proper words. "Can I speak with Mr. Kurt Hummel? It's about, ah, the time he lived in Lima. I'm the redactor of our school's bulletin, you see, and if he could spare a moment, I'd love to add him to our "Successful and from Ohio" page," he lied, surprised at how smoothly the explanation rolled off his tongue.

"Oh, of course!" The perky voice on the phone placed him on hold. The recording was of a crystal voice that could have been a female given the high clear range. After a minute or so the line picked up.

"Kurt Hummel speaking." Kurt's voice was high, as it would always be, and still quite youthful. "Yes, this is Kurt, not his daughter." Kurt added with a bored tone.

Sebastian cleared his throat and went over to repeating the same tale he told his receptionist. At the end, he added. "And any comment would mean the world to me." He sat on his bed, wondering how much meandering he'll have to do to make Kurt touch on Dave. The man was undoubtedly important for the ghost, but did Kurt even remember him?

"How old are you? You sound young." Kurt placed aside his sketchpad that was filled with design ideas. "I think I have time to answer question for someone trying to make their way back in Lima."

"Yeah. I thought you'd understand. Being 18 and stuck in here... It just really helps to know some people made it, you know?" Sebastian answered sensing this was what the man wanted him to say.

"Trust me, I've been there. 18 years of small town hell. It was worse back then. Not everyone liked my self-expression. They don't happen to still have that hideous slushie tradition do they?"

"No, they don't," Sebastian says with a relieved sigh even though he had yet to spent one hour in the local school. "So I take it there was a lot to endure for you here? Anything in particular comes to mind?" He asked tentatively hoping he's not too transparent.

"I was bullied. Badly. No one much liked my sexuality. I was the only one out... do you use that phrase anymore? Out of the closet, as in not hiding my sexuality. I took to carrying around at least 2 changes of clothing since the jocks liked to throw slushies with that horrible demon red-dye 12 at me."

"Wow... That's terrible." The rant makes Sebastian forget about his agenda for a moment. People try at times to make him feel shitty about his promiscuous life, or singing on regular basis, but... What Kurt describes sound so much more vile. He snaps out of his thoughts when he remembers Dave's words. _I hated him_. "Do you by any chance remember Dave Karofsky?" He decides to cut to the chase.

"Oh, my... that's a blast from the past." For a man who was tormented, his voice is surprisingly soft. "Yes, I remember David. Has he shown back up in the world? Did you also do his interview?"

"Um... Yeah, we talked." Sebastian frowns at the choice of words. Could it be that Kurt didn't remember Dave's death? From what he gathered in the google search, Hummel left Lima a year after Dave died. And the designer didn't seem to forget Dave. "We talked, and uh, he was rather lip tight about his time in Lima." Sebastian decided on saying. "He spoke very kindly about you though."

"I guess that makes sense. Lima was worst on David. I hope he found himself a special man." Kurt sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'm guessing he didn't tell you much. He was a jock, just about every stereotype of militant masculinity. He was also gay. He tried to keep it hidden but rumors get out. In one afternoon he went from being the big man popular to the school pariah."

"Oh... That's very... disturbing." Sebastian responded, groping around for a notepad to write down the details his fraught with questions mind craved. "So, I take it you two knew each other well? That's an unusual alliance," he noted carefully.

"HA. Alliance. No, he was my tormentor. Almost the biggest one. Obviously it was because I was out. But I didn't know that. He... Well, I don't usually kiss and tell. But one day I refused to take the bullying any longer. He ended up kissing me. I was terrified he was about to beat me up. Someone... Someone saw. By the next morning it was all over the town."

"But... that was just one kiss. They taunted you two because of that?" He tries to wrap his mind around what the man was saying. In vain.

"It was a different time." Kurt sighs. "I'm so happy you kids live in a world where it's not a taboo. I don't really know how to explain it. But it was used as an insult,whatever was annoying or stupid or you didn't like would be called gay. It was a catch-all for being a bad person. And don't get me started on religion. I was lucky not to be raised with it, but Dave was... something. Catholic, maybe?"

"So... what happened then?" Sebastian asks and his voice is suddenly very small. He thinks he's starting to have an idea how Dave died, the memory of the ghost flashing in a suit and with marks on his throat goes through his head.

"He disappeared. His mom told everyone she found his ice skates and laptop gone. He ran away. No one heard from him. I left after graduation to New York. I'm very happy you could contact him. With something like that... well, look up the gay rights movement and suicide rates for youth in 2012 some day. You'll see what I was worried about."

Sebastian narrows his eyes. When exactly did Dave kill himself...? _After_ running off? "I will, thanks. It was a pleasure to talk to you, Mr Hummel. Means a lot. Thank you."

"Oh, no problem. Don't forget to add in my participation in glee club being the only thing that kept me from quitting all together. The arts are so important. I hope you do well, buddy."

"Yeah, sure," Sebastian rolls his eyes freely. "Thank you." He hangs up on the guy and drops back on the bed. This all is more confusing than he signed up for. He sighs, rubbing his face and sets on clearing things up right away. "Dave?"

He's in that same letterman jacket as he flickers into being. "I'm here. Did you talk to him?"

"How did you die?" He asks right away, piercing the ghost... through the ghost... with accusatory look in his eyes.

"Um... I don't know. I don't remember dying. Can we not talk about it?"

"Sure. Why talk about the most important puzzle piece here." Sebastian glares at him. "Kurt said you ran away. Then why aren't you hunting whatever place you died in? Why here, why this room?"

"I... this was my room. This was my house." Dave shrinks away from the yelling boy. "You're trying to fucking get rid of me, aren't you? Fuck you! I didn't even know I was dead until you fucking came around."

"I didn't ask for a paranormal companion, you know." Sebastian rolls his eyes. "Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm not gonna exorcise you or anything like that."

Dave's eyes are huge as the idea of a priest coming down to banish him into hell dances in his mind. "Don't tell the church. Please, don't tell the church. I know I sinned. I know I deserve hell but, please, don't make me go. I know I committed horrible acts with a man and that God looks down on it and maybe that's why I'm not moving on, because my soul is filled with heinous desires, but please. I don't want to go."

"Easy, tiger. Do I look like I'm a church person?" Sebastian's hands go to his temples, trying to massage away the upcoming headache. Seems like Dave still has all that prejudiced bullshit festering in his mind, as if even death didn't give him deliverance from self loathing and fear. "Just... calm down. I highly doubt your desires are any more perverted than mine." He tries to slip into his comfortable, aloof, cocky self.

Dave's fingers twitch against his thigh. He eyes Sebastian before collapsing on the edge of the bed. "I just... I don't like thinking about having to move on and go to hell when all I ever did was kiss one boy."

"Hey... You're not going to hell," Sebastian says firmly, omitting the fact that he doesn't even believe in existence of such thing. "Seriously. Who even told you that?"

"My mom... my priest... everyone. It's against the bible." Dave falls back into the bed.

_Who cares about some ancient book written by drunk liars_, almost makes it past Sebastian's lips, but he realizes in time that antagonizing the ghost might not be the neatest idea. At least if his little freak out in the hallway was anything to go by - and Sebastian still feels shivers at the thought of that. "So maybe... they... were... wrong?"

"How... Why would they be so against it if it was wrong? I mean... everyone hated gays. It doesn't make sense unless everyone had a good reason. Otherwise what was I doing? I was just like them. Being angry all the time at anyone who could be g... like me."

"Well... duh." Sebastian shrugs. "Look, that was before. Now you need to let go. Maybe that's what was keeping you on earth in the endless loop of going to school as if each time you had a chance to make up for your mistakes?"

"That makes sense..." Dave looks up at Sebastian from his position. "So what now? I never make it up and I just go on. I still hurt people. I hurt Kurt... I don't want to die yet."

Sebastian sighs as if all the weight of the world was settled on his shoulders. "Then don't hang yourself?"

"I... didn't? Or maybe I did. I just know I don't want to die."

Sebastian scratches his head. "Man, I don't know what you expect me to do. You said you don't want to talk about your death, right?" He circles the topic tentatively, hoping the ghost won't pull off some supernatural crap on him this time. But they have to get to this some day. All Sebastian knows about ghosts may come from tv shows and movies, but there has to be some truth about the belief that unfinished business or wrong place of burial can bring a soul back.

"I... I don't expect anything." Dave sighs. "I'll just go."

"As you wish," Sebastian murmurs sneeringly.


End file.
